Wake Up Call: Legal Industry Gained Momentum in Q2, Citi Finds

• The legal industry gained momentum in the second quarter of 2015, but overall revenue results results are still behind what was reported in the first half of 2014. Demand improved and expense growth slowed, according to a report by Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group. (American Lawyer)

• Bank of America is complaining Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is charging “excessive and unreasonable” fees for representing the official creditors’ committee in Cal Dive International Inc.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The firm ran up $994,000 in 10 weeks. (Big Law Business)

• “ DLA Piper’s South Africa ally Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr pulled out of the relationship after it became apparent that partners would be forced into giving up control of the firm, chief executive Brent Williams has revealed.” (The Lawyer)

• The AmLaw Daily looks at who has been active in challenging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s growing tendency to use internal courts to settle matters, including lawyers from Skadden, Kramer Levin, Kilpatrick Townsend, Brown Rudnick and Petrillo Klein & Boxer. (American Lawyer)

Legal Market

• Haynes and Boone acquired the intellectual property law boutique Mavrakakis Law Group in a deal that adds four partners and four associates, located in both Palo Alto and Chicago, to the 550-lawyer Texas-based law firm. (Big Law Business)

• Financial services giant Prudential is currently in the process of reviewing its legal panel for the first time since 2011, with its general counsel Margaret Coltman carrying out the current review. Coltman was previously at Lloyds Banking Group and a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright. (The Lawyer)

• Bloomberg Law surveyed 80 librarians from large and medium sized law firms about their respective roles. The result? Law firm librarians feel underutilized as analysts and underpaid for the analytical work they’re already doing. (Big Law Business)

• Regional law firms “will have to succeed by either being cheaper than the major Branded Law Firms (which will result in limited upside) or picking locations that the major Branded Law Firms don’t practice in,” opines Bruce Stachenfeld, of Duval & Stachenfeld. (Above the Law)

• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission adopted principles for challenging unfair competition that allow the agency to maintain a flexible approach after critics called its review standards vague and a hindrance to legitimate business practices.(Bloomberg/Big Law Business)

Laterals

• “ Patent lawyer Howard Shipley , who escaped punishment by the U.S. Supreme Court in March for a jargon-filled brief he had filed that was written mainly by his client, has left Foley & Lardner to become a partner at Gordon & Rees.” (Legal Times)

• Glenn Ballard, former head of the trial section at Bracewell & Giuliani, will join Dentons as managing partner of its Houston office beginning Aug. 17. (Big Law Business)

• Bert Brandenburg becomes president of the Appleseed public-interest law network this month, after spending 14 years at Justice at Stake, most recently as executive director, one of the most visible groups opposing the politicization of judicial seats. (National Law Journal)

• U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Melinda Haag will step down on Sept. 1 but has not said if she intends to return to Orrick. (The Recorder)

Dewey

• Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former revenue support director, Dianne Cascino, that she faced frequent questions from firm partners about accounting entries she used to artificially inflate the firm’s bottom line. But Cascino testified she was sometimes instructed to make accounting adjustments by firm’s former CFO, Joel Sanders. (American Lawyer)

• A complete recap of the Dewey trial to date. (Big Law Business)

Technology

• In terms of a hack of sensitive data, the risks law firms are facing on a scale of 1 to 10 is an 11 , according to Daniel Solove, professor at George Washington Law School and organizer of the Privacy + Security Forum. (Legal Tech News)

• Pittsburgh is emerging as a front line in the global fight against cybercrime , thanks to a public-private partnership in which the FBI is partnering with banks and other firms to identify threats. (WSJ)

• The Federal Trade Commission filed action against two data brokers , which it alleges facilitated the theft of $7.1 million dollars by selling customers’ financial information to Ideal Financial Solutions Inc., which then charged customers for services without permission. (Legal Tech News)

Legal Education

• A group of graduates of the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law have filed a class action against Texas A&M University School of Law , which acquired their alma mater in 2013, claiming it has disavowed them as alumni. The suit seeks reissued diplomas with the school’s new name and access to alumni resources. (National Law Journal)

Miscellaneous

• Meet the lawyers defending celebrity chefs against Donald Trump’s breach of contract lawsuits: Holland & Knight’s Paul Kiernan and Pillsburthy Winthrop Shaw Pittman’s Deborah Baum. The he chefs backed out of plans to open restaurants in his new hotel project in downtown Washington, DC in opposition to Trump’s controversial immigration remarks . (Legal Times)

• “ A 60-year-old investigator who worked for the San Francisco district attorney’s office is suing her former employer for age discrimination.” (The Recorder)

• The ABA is expanding its legal publishing imprint . (Chicago Tribune)